The present invention relates to fishing equipment, and more particularly to devices designed to provide alternative or additional support for fishing rods.
Fishing precedes the dawn of recorded history, and over many centuries has evolved from being exclusively a source of food for survival, to a source of recreation and enjoyment for millions of individuals, especially in more industrialized societies. Most of these individuals use a fairly standard fishing rod which includes a flexible rod or staff, a handle at one end of the staff that is gripped by hand, and a fishing line, typically wound on a reel attached to the rod near the handle.
Over the years, many implements have been developed for supporting a fishing rod handle, whether to assist individuals with physical disabilities that render holding the handle in the standard fashion difficult or impossible, to provide users with temporary relief from the task of holding the rod, or to provide auxiliary support for better control when attempting to reel in a fish offering spirited resistance. One common approach is to provide handle holding receptacles along a boat gunwale or rail. While these arrangements may provide relief from holding the fishing rod, they are of little use in actively engaging and reeling in a fish.
A variety of auxiliary arrangements are designed to support the rod with respect to the user rather than to the boat. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,312 (Maddox) discloses a rigid frame that includes an upwardly inclined receptacle for a fishing rod handle. The frame is supported on the user by a strap arrangement including an over-the-shoulder strap and one or more straps secured to the user's waist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,115 (White, et al.) shows a support belt worn around the user's waist, with a receptacle mounted to the front of the belt to receive a fishing rod handle. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,574 (Fast), a fishing rod holder includes a receptacle and a hook portion adapted for attachment to the users clothing, e.g. a belt.
Another arrangement, featured in U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,898 (Shelton), includes a pad designed to rest against the upper leg, and an extension above the pad and outwardly inclined to provide a fishing rod handle receptacle. The user secures the device with a strap that surrounds the waist, and may also use the strap about the pad and leg.
While these devices are useful for their intended purposes, to varying degrees these devices contemplate the use of both hands to guide and control the fishing rod. In some cases this is because the receptacle, while carried by the body, remains free for swinging or other motion relative to the body. In other cases, the receptacle itself is designed to support the handle only in cooperation with the user's hand or hands, and cannot by itself integrally support the fishing rod. Thus, these devices contemplate using two hands to reel in a fish, one to guide the rod while the other operates the reel. Further, none of these devices involves mounting a fishing rod handle receptacle for movement between an extended position for use, and a loading position for more convenient insertion of the handle.
Accordingly, the present invention has several aspects directed to one or more of the following objects:                to provide a device that enables users to support fishing rods in a completely hands-free manner, even while the fishing rod is in use and the hook and bait are in the water;        to provide a firm, substantially integral support of a fishing rod with respect to a user's torso, to enable the user to control the position of the fishing rod by pivoting or otherwise moving the torso;        to provide a fishing rod support device with a receptacle that is moveable between an extended position for use and a loading position for more convenient loading and removal of a fishing rod handle from the receptacle; and        to provide a fishing rod supporting device that incorporates means for adjusting a working position of the fishing rod relative to the user's torso.        